TWIF: Vol. 13 - Sry we're late but we were fighting misogynists and stuff

1. California Makes Strides for Pride.

Full disclosure: legalizing same-sex marriage does not miraculously abra-cadabra-ify LGBT+ discrimination into thin air. There are actually many different issues on top of marriage equality that afflict the LGBT+ community regularly--but the question on many activist’s minds has been whether or not anyone will actually address them. Welllllllllll, we’re happy to report that California has officially stepped up to the plate. Through a series of four bills (all of which have now been signed into law by Governor Jerry Brown) that range in topics from healthcare visibility, to parental rights, to providing educational resources for at-risk youth, to not negotiating with terrorists--er, sorry, we meant to say homophobes--the state of California is setting an important precedent for the other states to follow. Let’s keep up the momentum, people!

2. Canadian Election Soothes Progressive Souls.

This just in: Canada has racists, too! You may be thinking, WAIT. That's, like, the only place where nothing bad happens, people are always nice, and I get free healthcare if I head north to escape President Trump.What racism? Yeah, we’re disappointed, too. But Monday's national election--which resulted in a Liberal Prime Minister for the first time in almost a decade--exposed some ickiness: Conservatives have supported anti-Muslim racism by A) banning certain items of women’s clothing, B) blocking Muslim-Syrian refugees while welcoming Christian-Syrians, and C) threatening to strip citizenship of suspected terrorists even if they were born in Canada. With help from PM Stephen Harper, the party veiled anti-Muslim racism under the disingenuous claim that its goal was to protect women--so they banned women from wearing niqabs at their own Canadian citizenship ceremonies. Duh. Hopefully the election of progressive newbie Justin Trudeau will help return Canada to that shining example of goodness Americans depend on.

3. Women's Uni-TEA.

It usually takes an entire team of highly educated and well-trained (and well-paid) professionals to challenge international companies with serious financial influence and global reach. And then actually winning anything? That’s a whole other story. Consequently, our jaws hit the floor when we caught wind of this badass group of women--6,000 mostly uneducated tea pickers in the southern Indian state of Kerala--that recently won higher wages and improved living quarters from the multinational tea company that employs them. Also, these ladies purposefully chose to fight for better treatment without the help of any dudes, in an effort to make a statement about how corrupt and sexist the male-dominated trade unions of the region are. Self-titled “Women’s Unity,” this unofficial ladies’ union may have won better living conditions fair and square, but they sure did steal our hearts. Yes, that was cheesy. No, we don’t care.

4. Never. Your. Grapefruit.

If you've got your nose to the THINX grindstone, then you already knows all about how the third party agency in control of NYC subway ads has rejected our ad campaign proposal (yes, rejected), which features our tagline (read: includes the word "period") paired with models wearing our product and food items that invite comparison to female biology. And if you haven't yet heard this story but you've ridden the subway at one point, you may be scratching your head, wondering why the MTA has cleared images of (mega photoshopped) bikini-clad women alongside text that demands of the reader, Are you "beach body ready"!? Or maybe even those breast augmentation ads that feature a woman holding up whole grapefruits to her chest, clearly signifying that she is hungry and can't figure out how to peel the fruit for consumption (is that not what those ads are about?). Either way, we love that y'all are as mad about the whole thing as we are, and that you support us telling the MTA that they cannot use female bodies to sell products if they don't want to acknowledge our humanity. Sry not sry. Also, #NotYourGrapefruit. The silver lining? Looks like some grapefruits and eggs may be coming to a subway near you. Bravo, community. Bravo.

5. Afghan Women Targeted by Taliban.

For those of us that live under the privileged guise of the west, word of “the Taliban,” generally results in an unspecific sense of discomfort or fear, and not much else. They’re kinda just the “bad guys” in the game of global politics, right? Unfortunately for many other people (especially women in the Middle East), the Taliban plays a concrete role in daily life. News this week is particularly troubling, as the Taliban occupation of Kunduz, a city in northern Afghanistan, has resulted in a major leap backward for gender politics in the area. Taliban leaders targeted women with public profiles--women they called “sluts” with “immoral” agendas of aiding other women--and intimidated the educated female leaders of the community to the point of their fleeing for their lives. Not only did the Taliban make it clear that they do not tolerate female autonomy, but the global community is now worried that they may have permanently silenced any efforts toward female empowerment within Kunduz’s traditional climate of misogyny. If you want to help women from Kunduz, check this site out.